The present invention relates in general to outdoor cooking units, and more particularly to an outdoor cooking unit that is collapsible to facilitate transporting and storage.
Cooking units that are adapted to be disassembled and effectively enclosed in a container for ease of transporting on a camping trip or the like are already available. One such unit, which is disclosed in my pending application, Ser. No. 06/440,984 filed on Nov. 12, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,094, for Convertible Cooking Unit, is particularly adapted to be used outdoors as an environmentally enclosed heating and cooking system. Other cooking units, that are customarily used on patios for barbequing and the like, have provisions for disassembling or collapsing to promote easy storage. However, the arrangement of the parts of a cooking unit that is used in outdoor cooking is considerably different than the arrangement of parts of cooking units used for patio cooking. In view of the fact that many people who participate in camping activities occasionally desire to enjoy the experience of outdoor cooking, there is a need for a cooking unit that may be arranged in a compact form for ease in transporting and storage and is capable of being used to perform heating and cooking functions. A collapsible cooking unit that is compact and lends itself to the use of flammable fuels, such as canned jellied alcohol or the like, has been needed for outdoor use and patio use.